Trump Calls Canada–EU Membership Talk a “Hostile Act,” Threatens Europe With Tariffs

President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday that a European Commission proposal to make Canada the European Union’s first “associate member” could be treated as a “hostile act” against the United States.

“I think it’s laughable,” Trump said when asked about the plan after a North Carolina Senate rally for Republican Michael Whatley. “If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things.”

He split the difference on motive. “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.” He called Canada “a terrible trade partner.”

The remark answered European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union address in Strasbourg. Von der Leyen told the Parliament she wanted to work on “opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” and the chamber gave her a standing ovation. The status does not exist in current EU treaties. She did not define voting rights, budget contributions, or defense obligations.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the same Parliament on Thursday. He said “Europe and Canada are stronger together” and welcomed Europe’s “ambition,” while stopping short of endorsing a legal category Brussels has not drafted. Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s ambassador-designate to the EU, said Ottawa had discussed an “Alliance for the Future” and knew associate membership “was on the table.”

A U.S. official told Politico on Thursday that Canada and the EU already have a comprehensive trade agreement and that a closer arrangement “likely would implicate significant sovereignty issues.” The official added that as Washington “is reducing its role as the global consumer of last resort, it is not clear that either Canada or the EU are ready to take up that mantle.”

Fresh U.S. tariffs on Europe would collide with the trade arrangement Washington and Brussels struck last year. Canada has already answered Trump’s Section 338 tariffs with retaliatory duties covering tens of billions of dollars in U.S. goods. Those counter-tariffs took effect this month.

Associate membership, if it is ever written into law, would still need every EU member state. Several capitals have already objected that von der Leyen floated the idea without lining them up first. That procedural fight does not cancel Trump’s threat. It only decides whether the threat is tested.